Michigan baseball is off and running in the 2025 season, and the Wolverines opened things up with a bang against the No. 2 team in the country!

Taking part in the Puerto Rico Challenge, Virginia opened things up against Michigan, and the Cavs immediately found themselves in a hole. The Wolverines scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st and then bumped the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the 6th inning with a 2-run home run.

The Cavs did get a game-tying 2-run home run from Chris Arroyo in the 7th inning, and that set off a 4-all tie that would send the game into extras. It went all the way into the bottom of the 11th inning with 1 out and a runner on first for Michigan.

Matt Spear, the star of the game for the Wolverines, hit a hard grounder down the first base line that was deflected into foul ground. It provided more than enough time for Mitch Voit to race around for the game-winning run for the Wolverines.

Virginia entered the season with the 4th-best odds to win the national title this year, coming in at +1200 via DraftKings behind the SEC trio of Tennessee, LSU and Texas A&M. Be sure to use the Michigan sports betting apps to track the line movement all baseball season long.

Spear was the star for Michigan with a home run and 2 RBI, including the game-winning knock that went down as an error. Voit also had a double and 2 runs scored for the Wolverines in the win.

Virginia got a pair of doubles from Eric Becker and 3 RBI plus the home run from Arroyo. Ryan Osinski was also sharp for the Cavs out of the bullpen with 3.1 innings pitched without an earned run but was the pitcher on the mound as Michigan walked things off.

Virginia entered the season hoping for a return trip to Omaha after advancing to the College World Series in 2024, a 3rd appearance in the past 4 seasons for the Cavs. However, they have not been back to the CWS Finals since winning it all in 2015.

Meanwhile, Michigan has not been back to the NCAA Tournament since 2022, Erik Bakich’s final season with the program. We’ll see how the Wolverines fare throughout the regular season, but that’s quite the start for the Wolverines.